6/1/1449, Constantine XI was crowned Byzantine Emperor at Mistra. He was the last in a line of rulers that
can be traced to the founding of Rome.

1448, Byzantine Emperor John VIII
Paleologus died aged 57 after a 23-year reign. He was succeeded by
his 44-year-old brother who reigned until 1453 as Constantine XI Paleologus, the last of the Byzantine Emperors.

6/9/1422.Sultan Murat gave up besieging Constantinople.

1391, Byzantine Emperor John V
Paleologus died aged59. He
was succeeded by his 41-year-old son who ruled until 1425 as Emperor Manuel II
Paleologus.

1355, Byzantine Emperor John VI
Cantacuzene was deposed and retired to a monastery after an 8-year rule
during which he imposed heavy taxes to pay for a foreign mercenary army.

15/6/1341, Following the death of Byzantine Emperor Andronicus III,
aged 45, this day his 9-year-old son was challenged by his guardian, John
Cantacuzene, for the rulership.

11/6/1329, Ottoman Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of
Maltepe (Pelekanon)

6/4/1326. Orkhan, son of Osman, the founder of theOttoman Empire, captured Brusa from the Byzantines and made it his capital. By
1341 Orkhan had reinforced his influence in the Byzantine Empire by marrying
twice into it; first to Theodora, daughter of Byzantium’s new joint Emperor John Cantacuzene, whom he had lent
6,000 troops for his coup. Secondly, Orkhan’s new sister in law, Helen, married
the other joint Emperor and coup victim, John Paleologus.

27/7/1302, The Ottoman Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of
Bapheus, heralding the Turkish conquest
of Bithynia.

13/4/1204, The
Crusaders captured Constantinople.In 1198 the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, was to have assembled a
fleet to take the Crusaders from Venice to Palestine but there was insufficient
money to pay for the ships.So they
diverted into Dalmatia and arrived at Constantinople.The Byzantine Prince Alexius Angelus, son of
the deposed King Isaac II, persuaded the Crusaders to help reinstate his father.On 7/4/1203 the Crusaders stormed Byzantium
andreinstated Isaac II, but the agreed
payment of 200,000 marks for this was not paid to the Crusaders; worse, King
Isaac II was deposed again.Hence the
Crusaders this day re-attacked Byzantium, sacking and looting it.

17/9/1176, Emperor Manuel of Byzantium was
defeated by the Muslims, in the Crusades.Without Byzantium the Crusader
hold on Palestine was untenable.

8/4/1143, John II, Byzantine Emperor, was
killed accidentally.

13/9/1087, John
II Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor, was born.

1078, Emperor Michael VII abdicated. He was
replaced by a soldier who began a 3-year reign as Nicephorus III Botaniates.

26/8/1071. The armies of the Byzantine leader Emperor Romanus
Diogenes and the Turkish leader Mohammed Ibn Da’ud clashed at Manzikert, or
Malazagird, north of Lake Van. The Byzantines had entered Armenia with the
French and Normans, and some Turks from the Uzes tribe, and the Turkish leader
had to abandon a campaign in Syria and hurry north to meet this invasion. The
Turkish cavalry routed the enemy. Ibn Da’ud died on 24/11/1072.

1059, The Byzantine Emperor Isaac I
Comnenus abdicated in favour of a senior financial officer who began
an 8-year reign as Constantine X (Dukas). The new Emperor
antagonised the army by shifting resources towards the civil service, the
church and scholars.

1057, The Comnenus Dynasty, which endured until 1185, began in Byzantium with
the reign of Isaac I Comnenus, a military leader proclaimed ruler by the barons
of Anatolia.

1056, Byzantine Empress
Theodora died, aged 76, ending the Macedonian Dynasty that had begunwith the reign of Justinian the
Great in 527. Theodora’s successor, Michael VI (Stratioticus) was
overthrown in early 1057 bya rebellion
of the feudal barons of Anatolia.

1050, The Byzantine Empress Zoe
died, aged 70. Her older sister Theodora, who had been co-Empress since 1042,
now ruled with Emperor Constantine IX. He spent large sums on public
buildings, but this profligacy weakened the economy

6/10/1014,
The Byzantine EmperorBasil II
defeated the Bulgarian army, after a 28-year war, under Tsar Samuel, then
ordered the defeated 15,000 men to be blinded. Basil arranged for one eye of
every hundredth man to be spared so the army could find its way back to the
Tsar.

995, The Byzantine Empire conquered Syria, capturing
Aleppo and Homs.

10/1/976,
Byzantine co-Emperor John I Tzimisces
died aged 51 after returning from a second campaign against the Saracens. The
other co-Emperor, Basil II, then aged
20, now ruled alone until 1025.

28/10/969. After a prolonged siege,
Byzantium captured Antioch from the Arabs.

963, Byzantine
Emperor Romanus II, a
dissolute ruler, died aged 25, probably poisoned by his wife Romanus. He was succeeded by his infant
son, Basil II, who ruled
until 1025, with assistance from General
Nicephorus Phocas, at that time aged 41.

913, Byzantine
Emperor Alexander II died, and
was succeeded by his 8-year-old nephew, son of the late Leo VI, who ruled until 959 as Constantine VII (Porphyrogenitus, ‘born to
the purple’).

912, Byzantine
Emperor Leo VI died after
a 26-year reign. He was succeeded by his brother Alexander
II, who ruled for less than a year.

1/7/904. The Arabs sacked Thessalonica, the second greatest
city of the Empire after Byzantium itself, before withdrawing.

29/8/886, Byzantine Emperor
Basil I died after a 19-year reign. He was succeeded by a son of the
late Emperor Michael (by
Basil’s widow, Eudocia); he
reigned until 912 as Leo VI (The
Wise).

865, The
Vikings sacked Constantinople.

829, Byzantine
Emperor Michael II died. He
was succeeded by Theophilus, a
religious fanatic who ruled until 842.

741, Byzantime
Emperor Leo I died aged 61 after a 24-year reign, having saved the Empire from
Arab invasion. He was succeeded by his 22-year-old son, who ruled as Constantine V (Copronymus) until
775.

718, The Arab
fleet besieging Constantinople was destroyed by Leo
III, and the 13-month siege iof the city lifted.

15/8/717, Muslim forces attempted to capture Constantinople,
but were defeated However Emperor Theodosius was deposed and succeeded by the
37-year-old Emperor Leo
III, who ruled until 741. This was the start of the Isaurian Dynasty, which endured until
802.

716, Emperor Anastasius II was deposed in an army mutiny. He
was succeeded by a former tax collector who became Emperor Theodosius; he
proved to be an incapable leader and was deposed in 717.

713, Byzantine
Emperor Philippicus was
deposed after a 2-year reign, after a defeat by the Arabs. He was succeeded by Anastasius II, who strengthened the army and
navy., and ruled until 716.

705, Byzantine
Emperor Justinian II (Rhinometus) regained
the throne that he had lost in 695. He ruled until 711.

695, Byzantine
Emperor Justinian II was
deposed by army officers, who cut off his nose and exiled him to Kherson
(Crimea).

15/8/636.The Byzantine army
was crushed by the Moslem Arabs at the Battle of Yarmuk, on the River Yarmuk,
east of the Sea of Galilee. The Arabs, who took Damascus in 635, now controlled
all of Syria. In 637 the Arabs destroyed the Persian army at the Battle of
Qadisiyya. Jerusalem was captured by the Arabs in 638 under Caliph Umar.

578, Emperor Justin died, insane. He was succeeded by
his general Tiberius as Tiberius II Constaninius.

1/4/568. King Albion of the Lombards
(King since 565, died 573), a Germanic tribe, assembled an army that
included his allies, 20,000 Saxons, in order to cross the Alps and form a
settlement in Italy. The Lombards may have been invited to attack Italy by the
Byzantine General Narses. Milan was
occupied by the Lombards on 4/9/569 and Lombard rule established in northern
Italy.

14/11/565, Byzantine Emperor Justinian
I
died after a 38-year reign (born 483); succeeded by his nephew, Justin II (died 578).

559, Belisarius defeated a
Hun army near Constantinople.

552, King Totila, Ostrogoth, killed fighting Byzantium (King Narses) at the Battle
of Taginae. In 553 Narses again took Roma and Naples for
Byzantium.

550, The Ostrogoth King Totila reconquered
Rome.

548, Byzantine Empress Theodora (born 508) died.

17/12/546.The Ostrogothic King Totila captured Rome after a years siege. The city had
been deserted by all but 500 of its civilian inhabitants.However the Byzantine commander Belisarius re-occupied the deserted city of Rome in 547 and rebuilt its
defences.

541, Emperor Justinian prepared plans to conquer Gaul and
Britain, was was forced to abandon them when Plague struck.

540, The Ostroghtic King Totila took Italy from Byzantium.

539, Belisarius recovered the province of Istria from the Goths.

9/12/536. The Byzantine commander Belisarius, having captured Naples earlier in 536, now took RomeIn 534 Belisarius had defeated the Vandals in north Africa.

24/3/536, Procopius, Cassiodirus and other Roman
historians recorded that a heavy dust cloud spread across Europe from this day
onwards. It was to stay put for 18 months, and in 359 another such cloud stayed
in the sky for several months. There were summer frosts and snow showers as
temperatures plummeted, and crops failed to ripen because of lack of light and
the cold. Widespread food shortages led to the Justinian Plague (541-3), named
after the Roman Emperor of the time, which wiped out a third of Europeans. The
cause has been linked to a series of huge volcanic eruptions in North America
in 535-6, and again in 539 AD.

534, Malta taken by Byzantium (who held it
until 870).

533, The Byzantime Emperor Belisarus captured North
Africa from the Franks.

13/9/533, At the
Battle of Ad Decimum, near Carthage (Tunisia), Byzantine forces defeated the Vandal army under King Gelimer, and his brother Tzazo.

13/1/532, Major riot in Constantinople against Emperor Justinian, caused by heavy taxes and corrupt
government.

1/8/527, The Byzantine EmperorJustin I died aged 77. He was succeeded by Justinian I (Flavius Petrus) who began a 38-year reign, strongly influenced by his 19-year-old
wife Theodora, until her death in 545.

30/8/526, Theodoric
the Great died

9/7/518.Death of the Roman Emperor Anastasius I, in Constantinople. Born no later than 430, he became Emperor at the death of Zeno, 491. He
reduced taxation but was so prudent financially he gained a reputation for
avarice and became unpopular. He fight with Persia, 502 – 505; neither side
gaining much by the time peace was made in 506. The Roman Balkan provinces
were overrun by Slavs and Bulgars; to protect Constantinople Anastasius built the ‘Anastasian Wall’ in 512. He also had to deal with a
rebellion in the European provinces in 514-515, the rebels being assisted by
the Huns. He was succeeded by Emperor Justin I (died 527).

508, Theodora, wife of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, was born (died 548).

474, Death of Leo I, Eastern Roman Emperor 457 – 474.

16/6/455.Rome was sacked and plundered by the Vandals, just 45 years after it was
conquered by the Visigoths.

20/9/451, The Huns under Attila were defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Chalons.

20/6/451. Having mounted an invasion of Gaul, Attila and the Huns were defeated
in the Battle of the Cataulanian Fields by a combined force of Romans,
Visigoths, and other barbarians, all under the command of Aetius.

28/7/450. Death of Emperor Theodosius II, who fell off his horse, after ruling for 42 years. He left no direct
heir.

19/10/439.The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, took
Carthage. Gaiseric brought 80,000 people with him
across the Straits of Gibraltar from Spain in 429, including 15,000 soldiers;
he then marched east along the North African coast, looting the cites there. With the loss of its African territories Rome lost the fertile wheat lands on which
the Empire depended for its bread. Local Roman administrators remained
and Roman law was maintained, to the benefit of the Vandals, who lived in
unaccustomed luxury in the Roman villas. The Vandals were Arians and persecuted
the Catholic Christians. Gaiseric began to build a fleet of fast ships to
dominate the western Mediterranean.

429, What is now
Morocco (Roman, Mauretania) was overrun by the Vandals, who took it from Roman
rule. 15 centuries of maritime piracy from this region began. See also Islam for
Morocco in the Islamic era.

425, Large areas of the Western
Roman Empire had been settled by Germanic
tribes. The Vandals in southern Spain. Huns in Pannonia. Ostrogoths in
Dalmatia. The Visigoths and Suevi in Portugal and northern Spain.

27/2/425. Emperor Theodosius II founded, in effect, the University of Constantinople. He gathered a
group of professors and gave them a monopoly over higher education in the city.

8/5/413, Honorius
signed an edict providing tax relief for the Italian provinces Tuscia,
Campania, Picenum, Samnium, Apulia, Lucania, and Calabria, who were plundered
by the Visigoths.

410, The last Roman legions left Britain, to protect Italy
from Germanic invasions.

23/8/410. The Visigoths under Alaric Isacked Rome after a third siege. Slaves opened the Salarian Gate and Goths looted the city for three
days. It was the first time since 390 BC that Rome had fallen to an enemy. This
marked the decline of the Roman Empire

13/10/409, The Vandals, led by King Gunderic, crossed the
Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula. They
received land from the Romans, in southern Spain. The Alans occupied lands
in Lusitania and the Suebi controlled parts of Gallaecia (modern Portugal).

408, The Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius,
whose eunuch general Eutropius had been unable to prevent barbarian
invasions, died aged 31 after a 13-year reign. He waqs succeeded by his
7-year-old son who ruled until 450 as Emperor Theodosius II, but under the
domination of his sister Pulcheria.

23/8/408, Flavius Stilicho, soldier, was assassinated, on the
orders of Emperor Honorius, as Rome was under siege from the
Visigoths.

31/12/406.The Rhine, for long
the frontier of the Roman Empire, froze over in an exceptionally cold winter. A
wave of tribes, the Vandals, Sueves, and Alans, moved across and into Gaul.

23/8/406, Radagaisus,
King of the Goths, was executed by the Romans. He had attempted an invasion of
Italy but was defeated by Stilicho.

405, The Coliseum in Rome was closed by Emperor Honorius in an austerity move, as amusements were curbed.

6/4/402, Stilicho led the Romans to victory over the
Visigoths at the Battle of Pollentia.

401, The Visigoths invaded Italy.

397,
Stilichio drove out the Visigoths udner Alaric
from Greece after a 2-year campaign.

17/1/395.
Emperor Theodosius I died and was succeeded by his two
sons. The Empire was once again divided;
Arcadius,
aged 17, husband of Eudoxia (the daughter of Frankish leader Bauto),
controlled the east from Constantinople. Meanwhile Honorius, aged 10, ruled the west from
Milan (under the regentship of his Vandal master of troops, Stilichio). The border between the east and west crossed the Libyan
Desert and the Balkans. Stilichio’s daughter, Maria, married Honorius in 398.

6/9/394, Eugenius was killed in battle against the
barbarian legions of Emperor Theodosius. The
Frankish general, Arbogast, escaped into the mountains butcommitted suicide two days later.

15/8/383.The Byzantine
Emperor Theodosius
signed an agreement with the Visigoths giving them land and political
autonomy within the Empire in return for military service. See 375.

19/1/379, The Roman Emperor Theodosius assumed
power at Sirmius.

9/8/378. The Romans
were defeated by the Visigoths at the Battle of Adrianople, Emperor Valens
was killed. Turkey. In 376 the Visigoths had been allowed to move into Roman
territory to escape pressure from the Huns. In 377 the Visigoths revolted
against Rome and the Roman Emperor Valens determined to subdue them. He
attacked on 9/8/378 when the main body of the Goth’s cavalry was away foraging,
but suddenly the Goth’s cavalry re-appeared on the battlefield. Two thirds of Valerian’s
army was killed. That battle ushered in
the supremacy, in the Roman army, of the cavalry over the legions.

17/11/375,
EmperorValentian I concluded an
enduring peace with the Alamanni in Germany, then marched into
Illyrium to repel an invasion of the Quadi and the Sarmatians on the Danube
frontier. While negotiating with the Quadi, Valentinian, age 54, became so
enraged that he died in a fit of apoplexy at Brigetio (Hungary). Extreme
cruelty marked his 11-year reign but he founded schools and provided physicians
to serve the poor of Constantinople.

375,.The Huns began to move
westwards from Lake Baikal and the steppes of central Asia, conquering the
Goths who in turn were driven westwards and mass on the Danubian borders of the
Roman Empire as refugees. Ostrogoths, Visigoths and Alans are all Germanic tribes,
warlike themselves, who were nevertheless driven west by the Huns. The
Visigoths sought and were granted permission by the Romans to cross south-west
over the lower Danube. See 15/8/383.

370, Theodosius expelled the Picts and Scots from
Roman Britain.

26/2/364.Valentinian
became Roman Emperor, succeeding Jovian who surrendered the gains of Diocletian
to the Persians. On 28/3/364 Valentinian appointed his brother Valens as
governor of the eastern Empire. For the first time the division of empire was accompanied
by a true division of resources and army between East and West.

26/6/363.Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor, was killed
fighting the Persians. The Emperor Julian was determined to reinstate the
old Roman gods and eliminate Christianity. A cousin of Constantius II, he
declared himself a pagan in November361 when Constantius
II died, leaving him as sole emperor. On 17/6/362 Julian
forbadeChristians from teaching grammar
or rhetoric. He was succeeded by the captain of his bodyguard, Flavius
Jovianus, who ruled for 7 months as the Emperor Jovian.

25/8/357.Julian, who was made Caesar by his cousin
Constantius II on 6/11/355, defeated the Alemmani at Strasbourg and drove them back
across the Rhine.

19/2/356. Constantius II, ruler of
all of Rome (see 22/5/337), ordered all pagan temples in the Roman Empire to be
closed.

11/1/347, The Roman
Emperor, Theodosius
the Great, was born.

340, The Roman Empire again split into East and West, with Constans
as Emperor of the West and Constantiius II as Emperor of the East.

22/5/337.Constantine, born
27/2/274, died after a baptism on
his death bed at his villa near Ancyra in Nicomedia. His sons, Constantine
II and Constans, shared the west, whilst Constantius II. took control of the
eastern Empire. In March 340 Constans kills his brother Constantine II at He was
buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. On 9/9/337
Constantine’s three Aquileia in northern Italy and became sole ruler of the
west. However Constans was himself murdered by the military commander
Magnentius in 350, and in turn Magnentius was defeated in Gaul by Constantius
II, ruler of the eastern Empire, at Mursa in 351.Once again Magnentius was
defeated by Constantius II in Gaul in 353, following which Magnentius committed
suicide and Constantius II was ruler of both east and west.

11/5/330. The Emperor Constantine
made Byzantium
the new capital of the Roman Empire, and renamed it Constantinople.

25/7/325. Major celebrations were held at Nicomedia, Asia
Minor, to mark the twentieth year of Constantine as Emperor. Also celebrated was Constantine’s
victory over his former ally Licinius, ruler of the eastern half of the
Roman Emperor. The rift came when Licinius broke
a promise to Constantine to tolerate the Christian religion. Constantine
defeated Licinius in 324 and captured Byzantium.The
Council of Nicea closed this day.

3/12/321.Sunday
was made a day of restthroughout the Roman Empire. Under the
Edict of Milan, 3/2/313, Christianity was now tolerated in the Empire.
Persecution
of Christians had begun under Diocletian in 303 and peaked under his
successors Galerius
and Maximian.
Constantine, born in Naissus in what is now Yugoslavia, was son of a
Christian mother, Helena. When Constantine
(born 274) became Emperor in 306 he followed the cult of Sol Invictis, the Unconquered Sun. However in 312, whilst fighting Maxentius
the son of Maximian, he saw a cross of light superimposed on the sun.
From then on Constantine identified the sun with the God of the Christians. He
ordered his men to fight Maxentius with Christian symbols painted on their
shields, and they won a famous victory
at the Milvian Bridge just outside Rome, on 28/10/312. Constantine became
ruler of the western Roman Empire.

28/10/312, Battle of Milvian Bridge. Maxentius
had been declared Emperor in Rome, with the backing of the Senate. However Constantine
was marching down from Gaul to claim title as Emperor. Constantine’s army was
smaller, and relied on cavalry, performing best on open ground. Maxentius
had dismantled the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber to halt Constantine’s advance;
Maxentius’ troops had to ford the Tiber to attack Constantine, this move put
them in the open, favouring Constantine’s cavalry. Maxentius fought in the name
of Mars, the Roman God of War; Constantine saw a flaming cross in the sky and
fought in the name of Christianity. Constantine’s cavalry charged, disrupting
Maxentius’ ranks; Maxentius was killed and his head paraded through Rome the
next day on a spear.

1/5/305.Diocletian, Emperor since 284, became the
first Roman Emperor to abdicate. He
retired to a palace on the Adriatic. There was now a division of
responsibility, one emperor for the east and one for the west of the Empire. Diocletian
died in 313.

24/2/303, Emperor Diocletian ordered a massive
persecution of the Christians.

297, Rome took the Kingdom of Armenia from Persia.

285, The Roman Empire was partitioned into East and West.

29/8/284, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Numerius was assassinated. He was succeeded by General Gaius Aurelius
Valerius Diocletianus Jovius, a 39-year-old Illyrian. He began a
21-year despotic rule of the Eastern Roman Empire whilst Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus
Herculius was to rule the West.

273, Aurelian defeated the Kingdom of
Palmyra.

271, Aurelian defeated the Marcomanni tribe, who in 270 had
advanced from Bohemia across the Danube. He also rebuilt the walls of Rome this
year. They wre maintained until the unification of Italy in 1861, but were
subsequrntly neglected.

258, The Alemanni and Suevi invaded
northern Italy, but were defeated by the Romans at Milan.

27/2/250, Emperor
Constantine was born.

248, The Roman Emperor Philippus hosted a great
festival with games to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the founding
of Rome in 753 BCE.

20/3/235, Maximinius Thrax, aged 62, was proclaimed
emperor. He had a Gothic father and an Alan mother. Maximinus a Thracian, was
the first foreigner to hold the
Roman throne.

18/3/235. The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander, was killed
in a battle against German invaders in Gaul. Born on 1/10/208 at Arca Caesarea,
Phoenicia, Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. In the early 230s he
fought against the Persians, returning to Rome in triumph in 233. He improved
the Empire economically; luxury and extravagance at the Roman Court were
reduced, the standard of the coinage was raised, taxes were lightened, the lot
of the soldiers was improved, and literature, science, and art were
encouraged,. He instituted loan offices to lend money to the people at a
reasonable rate of interest.

230, The Romans built a fort at Ghadames, western Libya.

27/6/221. The 19 year old Emperor Elagabalus was assassinated by a
member of the Praetorian Guard. Alexander Severus became Emperor.

8/6/218, Emperor Macrinus was assassinated near Antioch
after he tried to reduce the pay of the Roman soldiers. He was succeeded by Variua Avitus
Bassianus, a 14-year-old from Syria, a grandnephew by marriage of
the late Septimus
Severus. He claimed to be a son of Caracalla, and named himself
Heliogabalus, or Elagabalus, from the name of the Syrian Sun King.

8/4/217, Roman Emperor Caracalla was assassinated after a bloody
reign. He was succeeded by M Opellius Severus Macrinus, a 53-year-old
from \Mauretania, as Emperor Macrinus.

4/2/211. The Emperor Septimus Severus died at York whilst fighting the Caledonian
tribes.

28/3/193, The Roman Emperor Pertinax was assassinated.

190, The Column of Marcus
Aurelius, Rome, was erected.

4/4/188, The Roman emperor Caracalla (211-17) was born at Lyons in Gaul.

180, The Roman attempt to subdue Scotland failed; Rome withdrew south of
the Hadrians Wall.

17/3/180.Marcus Aurelius (Emperor from 161) died of the
plague. He was succeeded by his son Commodus. However Commodus fell prey to
insanity due to excessive power. He attempted to rename Rome as Colonia Aurelia
Nova Commodiana; also renaming the fleet, wheat, the legions, and the months of
the year. On 31/12/192 Commodus, who saw himself as the reincarnation of
Hercules, planned to sacrifice the new consuls on 1/1/193; the consul had an
athlete called Narcissus strangle Commodus in his bath. His death ended the
Antonine dynasty.

7/3/161. Emperor Antoninus died at Lorium and was replaced by
Emperor Marcus
Aurelius.

10/7/138.Hadrian, who
became Emperor of Rome on 8/8/117, died at his villa on the Bay of Naples.
See 8/8/117.

127, Hadrian’s Wall, Britain, was completed (work began in 122).

26/4/121, Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, was born.

8/8/117.The Emperor Trajan
died, and was succeeded by Hadrian. See 24/1/76, and 10/7/138. Hadrian abandoned the expansionist policy of
Trajan and earlier emperors and sought to stabilise the frontiers of Rome.
To achieve defensible frontiers the provinces of Assyria and Mesopotamia are
abandoned, although there was as yet no thought of giving up Britain. Instead, Hadrian built a wall from the Solway Firth to
the Tyne to keep out the Picts. Work on building this wall began in 122, and
was completed in 130.

105, Trajan invaded the Daunbe region
for the second time (previously, 101-2 AD), to conquer the Dacian territories.

98, In Britain, the city of
Colonia Nervia Glevensis (Gloucester) was founded (named after Emperor Nerva).

25/1/98,Nerva, Emperor of Rome, died.He was succeeded by his son Trajan,
with whom he had ruled jointly for the last three months of his life.

18/9/96, Nerva (35 – 98) became Emperor of Rome.He
purchased large areas of agricultural land in Italy and gave these to the poor.He also reformed the tax system and
streamlined the Roman bureaucracy.On
this day Emperor Domitian was murdered, by assassins in the pay of his wife,
Domitilla.
See 25/1/98

23/8/93, Gnaeus JuliusAgricola, Roman general renowned
for his conquests, died in Rome. In 83 AD he had won a decisive victory against Caledonian
tribes at the Battle of Mons Graupius, probably the Killiecrankie Pass. Had he been able to follow up this victory
Rome might have conquered the whole of Britain up to the northern end of
Scotland. However to Rome, Caledonia (Scotland) and the raids from its
unsubdued tribes was a minor issue; the main problem then was the Germanic
threat from east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. Agricola was recalled to
Rome with Caledonia unconquered.

81, Arch of Titus erected in Rome, to commemorate the Roman victory in
Jerusalem.

13/9/81, Roman Emperor Titus died, aged 40, after a 2-year reign. He
was succeded by his 29-year old brother, Titus Flavius Domitianus, who ruled until 96
as Emperor
Domitian.

80, The Coliseum, Rome, was opened; 3 months of celebrations marked its
inauguration.

23/6/79, Death of the Roman Emperor Vespasian
died, aged 69, after a 10-year reign. He was succeeded by his 38-year-old son, Flavius Sabinus
Vespasianus Titus. He ruled as Emperor Titus until 81.

24/1/76. Birth of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. See 8/8/117.

8/9/70.Jerusalem was
stormedby the Romans after a two
year siege. This ended a revolt by the
Jews that began in 66. Only in Masada did the Jews still hold out for a
while. See Judaism

20/12/69, Aulus Vitellius, former
Emperor of Rome, was dragged from his hiding place and assassinated. Vespasian
now ruled unchallenged, and held post until 79.

1/7/69Vespasian was proclaimed
Emperor of Rome by the prefect of Egypt; this was supported by the Legate of
Syria and the Danubian legions. Vitellus gathered forces to
oppose Vespasian’s supporters. Vitellus was
defeated by Vespasian in the Second
Battle of Bedriacum, late October 69.

19/4/69, Aulus Vitellus sent two
legions to the Po Valley where they defeated supporters of Otto in the Battle of Bedriacum, near Cremona. The
Roman Emperor Otto then committed suicide. Vitellus
now faced a challenge from Titus Flavianus Sabinus Vespasianus,
59, Legate of Judea.

15/1/69, The RomaEmperor Galba was assassinated by Marcus
Salvius Otho, 36, a friend of the late Nero. Eight legions on the
Rhine had denied their allegiance to Galba
and claimed legate Aulus Vitellus, 54, as
Emperor instead. The Senate recognised Otho as Emperor.

9/6/68. Nero
committed suicide, having been deserted by the Praetorian Guard and
lost favour with the Senate. His death ended the
Julio-Claudian line of Emperors that had ruled Rome for 128 years; he was
succeeded by Galba, who ruled for less
than 6 months before facing challenges to his leadership.

66, Nero sent two Roman soldiers to
explore the River Nile by boat. They got as far south as the Sudd, a huge swamp
the size of England before turning back.

18/7/64. The great fire
of Rome took place during the reign ofNero
(born 15/12/37, became emperor 13/10/54). He played the lyre and was 50 miles
away at his villa in Antium when he heard the news. The fire destroyed 10 of
the 14 districts of Rome and burned for 6 days. Nero was blamed for starting
the fire, and to divert blame he said the Christians had started it, putting them to death
in cruel ways.

13/10/54, Roman emperor Claudius I died, aged 64, possibly after being
poisoned by Agrippina,
his wife and niece, and was succeeded by Nero, Agrippina’s son by another marriage.

15/9/53, Marcus Ulpius Traianus, the Emperor Trajan, was born near
Seville, Spain.
He was the first Roman Emperor to be born in the provinces.

24/10/51, Domitian,
Emperor of Rome, was born.

50, The Acqua Claudia, an aqueduct from
Campagna to Rome, was built.

48, The Romans invaded Wales,
completing their conquest of the country by 80.

43, Roman invasion of Britain. The British,
under Caractacus,were defeated at the Medway.

25/1/41,After a night of negotiation, Claudius was accepted as Emperor
by the Senate. He ruled until 54.

24/1/41, Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, was
assassinated, aged 28, by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards.

16/3/37, Emperor Tiberius died, aged 78. He was succeeded by Gaius Caesar,
25, youngest son of Germanicus Caesar, nephew of Tiberius,
called Caligula
after his habit of wearing soldier’s boots, or caligulae. He was a cruel ruler.

26/5/17. The Romans won a major victory over Arminius,
avenging their defeat of 9 BCE in the Teutoberg Forest.

2/1/17, The historian and poet Livy died in Rome.

24/9/15, The Roman Emperor Aulus Vitellius was born.

19/8/14. Death of the Roman Emperor Augustus, after a 41-year reign. He was born
in Rome on 23/9/63 BC. He was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius Caludius Nero, aged 55.
Tiberius
ruled until 37 AD.

31/8/12, Birth of Emperor Caligula.

18/11/9,
Birth of the Roman Emperor Vespasian.

9, Three entire Roman legions
under General Quintinius
Varus were wiped out by the Germanic tribes under Arminius
in the TeutobergForest. The Rhine was settled on by the
Romans as the boundary of their empire. See 26/5/17 AD.

5, Lombard tribes on the lower Elbe River were
conquered by Rome.

1/8/10 BCE. Roman
Emperor Claudius I was born
in Lyons.

21/9/19 BCE. The Roman
poet Virgil, born 15/10/70 BC, died, after falling ill with
sunstroke whilst on a journey to Greece. His tomb in Naples became a shrine.

25 BCE, Julius Caesar began a
conquest of what is now Switzerland, founding the Province of
Rhaetia.

1/8/30 BCE,Octavian Caesar captured Alexandria.
This marked the official annexation of Ancient Egypt to the Roman Republic.

2/9/31 BCE. Octavian and his
general, Agrippa, defeated Mark Anthony and Cleopatra’s fleet off
Actium. Anthony followed Cleopatra to Egypt, to which she had
escaped with 60 ships. There, pursued by his enemies and deserted by his
troops, Anthony, aged 52, committed suicide in the
mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done likewise.

34 BCE, Dalmatia became
a Roman Province.

16/11/42 BCE. Tiberius, the second Emperor
of Rome, whose rule was marked by cruelty and debauchery, was born in Rome. He was the son of the
High Priest Tiberius Claudius Nero, and of Livia Drusilla, her husband’s cousin.

23/10/42 BCE. Marcus Brutus, whose
army was crushed by Anthony and Octavian at the Second Battle
of Philippi, committed suicide in Rome by falling on his own sword.

7/12/43 BCE. Cicero (Marcus Tullus),
the great Roman orator, (born 106 BCE) was killed by a soldier, Herennius, as
he attempted to flee by ship to Macedonia. He had fallen into disfavour for writing The Philippics, a series of attacks on Mark
Anthony. In 44 BC he had been in a powerful position, when Julius Caesar was assassinated, but Cicero has then opposed Caesar’s successor, Octavian.

10/10/43 BCE, The city of Lyons was founded by Lucius Plancus.

20/3/43 BCE, The poet Ovid
was born.

15/3/44 BCE. Julius Caesar
murdered. He was born on 12/7/100
BC, but not by Caesarean section as often claimed, although his surname does
derive from the Latin ‘to cut’. He made major conquests in his lifetime, and
put down civil wars in Asia and Spain; he was honoured like a god. But he was
slain by his close associates when he began claiming in name power he held in
fact, and planning grand projects such as the invasion of Parthia.

23/6/47 BCE, Queen Cleopatra gave birth to
Caesarion, who was probably the son of Julius Caesar.

9/8/48 BCE.Caesar, having
landed at northern Epirus in June, defeated Pompey’s troops and those of his
father in law Metellus Scipio at Pharsalus. Pompey
fled to Egypt. However on landing in Egypt on 28/9/48 BC, Pompey
was murdered on the orders of Ptolemy XII. Caesar’s
forces continued to hunt down Pompey’s
forces under his sons, finally defeating them in Spain on 15/3/45 BC.

2/8/49 BCE.Caesar, having left Marcus Antonius in charge of Italy and
marched to Spain, defeated Pompey’s
generals Afranius and Petreius at Lerida north of the Ebro River.

10/1/49 BCE. Caesar crossed
the Rubicon, a small river marking the boundary between Gaul and Italy,
as he marched on Rome to fight his former ally Pompey. Pompey,
fearing Caesar’s large army, fled Italy for Greece along with most of the
Senate.

7/1/49. BCE.The Senate said it would declare Caesar a public enemy if he did not disband
his army.

3/10/52 BCE, Battle of Alesia: Caesar defeated the Gauls led by Vercingetorix
(who surrendered on October 3), breaking the back of the Gallic insurrection. The
final pacification of Gaul was completed the following year.

9/52 BCE. Rome defeated an army in
Gaul under Vercingetorix.

54 BCE,
Cassivellaunus,
a major Belgic king in Britain, agreed to pay tribute to Rome.

26/8/55 BCE.Julius Caesar landed in Britain. He was attempting to deter the Britons from giving
military aid to the Gauls.

56 BCE, The Conference of Luca (now Lucca); Julius Caesar,
Crassus
and Pompeymet to patch up their differences and work together. However Crassus
and Pompeyhad become wary of Caesar, as his power grew after his victories
in Gaul. The three arranged that Pompeyand Crassus would hold the Consulship in 55 BCE,
whilst Caesar
continued his successful campaign in Gaul; afterwards, Crassus would become Governor of
Syria, from where he would campaign against tha Parthians. However Crassus
was killed in a major Roman defeat by the Parthians in 53 BCE, and relations
deteriorated between Caesar and Pompey, to the point of civil war, see
49 BCE.

72 BCE,
The Suevi,
a Germanic tribe, crossed the Rhone andinvaded Gaul led by KingAriovistus.

73 BCE,
Rome’s Third
Servile War began as slaves revolted under the leadership of the
Thracian slave and gladiator, Spartcacus. He seized the Mount Vesuvius
region and gathered other slaves to his cause. He was defeated by Roman armies
in 72 BCE.

103 BCE, Romes Second Servile War began as slaves revolted under the
leadership of Tryphon
and Athenion.
Human slaves provided the power for much of Rome’s agriculture;they could
follow verbal orders, despite being less powerful and less docile than horses.
The utility of horses was limited by the lack of metal horsesshoes or proper
harnesses.

105 BCE, Rome defeated Jugurtha, King of Numidia (northern Algeria). Meanwhile, two Roman armies
were defeated at Arausio, on the
Rhone, by the Cimbri, Celtic or Germanic tribes who had migrated westwards from
the Alpine region.

3/1/106 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman
statesman, was born.

123 BCE, As the cost of living soared in Rome, Gaius Gracchus began seeling
subsidised grain, for bread, from the State granaries.

129 BCE, Scipio
the Younger, who destroyed Carthage, died (born 185 BCE).

132 BCE, The First Servile War ended as the Romans captured and executed
the rebel leader, Eunus.

133 BCE, Asia Minor (now Turkey)
came under Roman control.

133 BCE, Tiberius
Sempronius Gracchus, aged 30, was elected Roman Tribune on a promise
of social reform. He tried to limit individual landholdings in an effort to
break uo the large latifundia but largely failed.

135 BCE, Rome’s First Servile War began as slaves on the large Sicilian
estates revolted under the Syrian, Eunus, who styled himself King Antiochus. Roman armies
were sent to put down the rebellion.

146 BCE, The Romans destroyed Carthage, ending the Third Punic War.

147 BCE, Rome sacked the city of Corinth. Greece came under Roman control.

149 BCE, The Romans invaded North Africa and laid siege to Carthage,
The Carthaginians offered to surrender but refused
to give up the city.

150 BCE, Rome again faced a threat from a resurgent Carthage, as
the Carthaginians attacked Numidia against Rome’s wishes. Masinna,
the 88 year old king of Numidia, was now Rome’s ally. Roman Censor Marcus Porcius
Cato famously urged “Delenda
est Carthago” (Carthage must be
destroyed).

1/1/153 BCE, 1st January became the
start of the civil year in Rome, rather than the traditional 15 March; a revolt
in Spain had forced the earlier accession of the Roman Consuls.

190 BCE, The Battle of Magnesia; Roman victory by Cornelius
Scipio over Antiochus III of Syria. The Syrians surrendered
their territory to Rome as far as the Taurus Mountains and agreed to pay 15,000
talents over 12 years, also to surrender Hannibal to Rome (however he escaped).

191 BCE,
Cisalpine Gaul became a Roman province.

197 BCE, At the Battle of Cynoscephalae in
Thessaly, the Romans under T Quinctius Flaminius defeated the Macedonians
under Philip
V. The Romans forced Philip V to surrender Greece to Rome, reduce his army to
5,00 men and his navy to five ships, promise not to make war without Rome’s
permission, and to pay Rome 1,000 talents over ten years.

201 BCE, Under surrender terms, Carthage handed over all her territories, including the Iberian
peninsula, to Rome. Carthage also agreed to pay Rome 200 talents
a year for 50 years, and not to make war without Rome’s permission. All but ten
of Carthage’s warships were destroyed.

19/10.202 BCE, Battle of Zama, end of the Second Punic War. The Romans under Scipio
defeated a combined force of Carthaginians and Numidians under Hannibal,
Carthage capitulated.

204 BCE, The
Romans under Cornelius
Scipiolaid
siege to Carthage. The Carthaginians burnt alive 100 sons of noblemen in
an effort to appease their god, Molech, and raise the siege.

207 BCE. The Romans under Scipio the Elder heavily
defeated the Carthaginians at Baecula, now Bailen, in
southern Spain. The Roman conquest of southern Spain gave them control of the
area’s silver mines, which vastly increased the wealth available to pay
soldiers and make further conquests across Europe.

213 BCE, The Romans constructed a large port at Adria, which operated until
the 12th century. Situated in the Po delta, it gave its name to the
Adriatic Sea; however by 1900 it was 14 miles inland from the sea.

2/8/216 BCE. Hannibaldefeated the Romans at the Battle of Cannae.
The Phoenicians originated in modern day
Lebanon but grew rich on trade and expanded throughout the western
Mediterranean. Their original city was Sidon in Lebanon, which was a wealthy
trading entrepot by 1500 BC. From Sidon came the colony of Tyre, 20 miles
further south; Tyre came to eclipse Sidon. From Tyre trading colonies were sent
out across the Mediterranean, trading as far as ‘Tarshish’, perhaps southern
Spain or even Cornwall; Tarshish had many valuable metal mines. Carthage was
the foremost Phoenician colony of Tyre. Carthage, in Tunisia, was founded
around 814 BC. By 480 BC, when the Carthaginian Himilco landed
in tin-rich Cornwall, Carthage was a major power. Other Carthaginians
sailed around west Africa perhaps as far as Cameroon. There was conflict with
Greece and in 535 BC the Carthaginians, helped by
their Etruscan allies, drove the Greeks out of Corsica and Sardinia. A dispute
for control of Sicily continued. Meanwhile Rome was rising in power. In 246 BC
Rome started the First Punic War in an effort to gain Sicily and in 241 BC Rome
gained Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. The Carthaginians moved into
Spain and set up Cartagena or New Carthage. Carthage
again grew rich and there was further conflict with Rome in 218 BC. Hannibal
set off from Cartegana in Spain and marched through Spain Gaul and Italy with
nearly 40 elephants, defeating the
Romans at Cannae in 216 BC. Hannibal’s army wiped out a Roman force nearly
twice its size, killing 70,000 Romans whilst losing only 6,000 of its own men.
The Roman forces were less manoeuvrable than the Carthaginian
forces. Hannibal, however, lacked the
catapults and battering rams necessary to take Rome itself, so contented
himself with laying waste to the surrounding countryside, greatly increasing
food prices in Rome.

Rome continued to harass Hannibal
for the next 13 years, and when Rome invaded Carthage it
was abandoned by its allies; Rome occupied Spain and Sicily. Hannibalwas defeated by Rome in 202 BC at Zama,
south west of Carthage, and Hannibal himself fled to King Antiocus
III of Syria in 195 BCE, Hannibalcommitted
suicide in 183 BC, to avoid extradition to Rome.

Carthage again prospered under peace
and once again became a threat to Rome. In 150 BC Rome found an excuse to
attack Carthage and besieged it for three years,
capturing it in 146 BC. The city was totally destroyed, and of its population
of 500,000, only 30,000 survived, to be sold into slavery. However the city was
rebuilt in 123 BCE and a century later Julius Caesar established a Roman colony
there. In 439 AD the city was razed by the Vandals
as Roman power waned. The Byzantine conquest revived Carthage but
in 698 the city fell to the Arabs,
who demolished it and used the stone to build Tunis. Some of Carthage’s
granite and marble was exported to build cathedrals in Pisa, Genoa, and perhaps
even Canterbury.

24/6/217 BCE, Carthaginian
forces, allied with Gauls, under Hannibal defeated the Romans at Lake
Trasimene, 10 miles north west of Perusia. Some 16,000 Romans, including their
commander Flaminius
were killed, the lake turned red with their blood.

218 BCE, The Second
Punic War began as the Carthaginians attacked
Rome’s allies on the Iberian Peninsula. Hannibal besieged and then conquered the town
of Sagunto, then crossed the Alps, defeating the Romans first at the Ticino
River and then a second time at the Trebbia River.

220 BCE, The Flaminian Way was completed between Rome and Rimini.

221 BCE, Hasdrubal
was assassinated. Control of the Carthaginian army now
passed to Hannibal,
26 year old son of the late Hamilcar Barca.

222 BCE, Rome conquered northern Italy, including the city of Mediolanum (now Milan).

225 BCE, Rome defeated the Gauls near Telamon, Etruria.

228 BCE, Hamilcar
Barca killed in battle. Command of the Carthaginian
army in the Iberian Peninsula passed to his son-in-law, Hasdrubal.

228 BCE, Carthage founded the city of Carthago Nova, now
known as Cartagena.

238 BCE, Carthage began the conquest of Spain. Sardinia
and Corsica
conquered by Rome.

241 BCE, End of the First Punic War; Hamilcar made peace with Rome. Carthage
was forced to cede all of Sicily to Rome.

246 BCE, Hamilcar
Barca took control of Carthaginian forces
fighting Rome in Sicily.

256 BCE, The Roman navy defeated Carthage at Ecnomus.

260 BCE, Rome defeated Carthage at the naval
Battle of Mylae, off the north coast of Sicily. The Roman commander, Gaius Duilius
Nepos, used quinquiremes, based on the design of a Carthaginian
ship found stranded on the Italian coast; he also pioneered the use of
grappling irons and boarding bridges which enabled him to defeat the larger and
more manoeuvrable Carthaginian fleet.